OnStyle Notebook: Baja East, Ostwald Helgason and Prabal Gurung

True confession: I got grumpy upon being told to show up on time for Baja East‘s presentation at the Standard Hotel on Saturday afternoon. The whole point of less-formal presentations is that people can stop by when it’s convenient. But I got the point when designers Scott Studenberg and John Targon stepped in front of the assemblage with their models and started narrating their own collection.

We could have been in a 19th century couture atelier, except that the designers offered up such descriptive gems as “just chillin’ in your leather and leopard moto pants” and “we left the raw edges to keep it a bit fucked up.”

This New-York-meets-LA surfer luxe collection is deliberately unisex, from the djelba-like tunics to wrap skirts and 300-ply cashmere sweaters that could double as blankets. To prove it, they made their models trade clothes – with the guys donning the gals clothes and vice versa. It’s all made in the USA and the prices are designer luxe – a chunky oversized cashmere sweater is $2,400.

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